


Idle Life at Cube

by QQgreen



Category: (여자)아이들 | (G)I-DLE
Genre: F/F, Multiple Perspectives, Pre-debut, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-10-05 16:35:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17328596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QQgreen/pseuds/QQgreen
Summary: Yuqi arrives in Korea and begins her new life as a trainee at Cube Entertainment, where she meets her future group members.





	1. Chapter 1

With a faint screech of its brakes the train stops at Seongsu-Station and opens the doors to her new life in Korea. Song Yuqi steps off the train into the warm light of the morning sun. Looking around her she can already spot the logo high up on the distant building. Letting the crowd carry her down the stairs and up on the streets she exits the station.

She feels an excitement that is in equal parts ecstatic and concern. She had done it. Well, not quite yet. But the first steps were done. The audition passed, the journey to Korea completed. But she knew very well that the hard part was still to come. Lost in thought Yuqi navigates through the streets towards the Cube headquarters still visible over the roofs. She was surprised how different and yet similar Seoul feels to her neighborhood back in Beijing. Similar low buildings, clean streets and every other corner a different small shop. She can't help but feel a small stab of homesickness. _Not even 48 hours and I already miss home. Ridiculous._ She thought to herself. Then her stomach drops. She can't see her destination anymore and a quick look on her phone tells her that she is expected in five minutes.

Walking to the next street corner she reads the street sign and enters it into her map app. Tough luck that she has not yet gotten a Korean SIM card. Without internet and in too close proximity to see the building over the roofs she has to rely on her coordination skills. And she knew very well that she had next to none of those. Four minutes to go! With determined steps, her suit case rattling behind her on the pavement, she walked down the next best street. Wherever she needed to go she might as well do it fast. At least she was close. She was so hectic she almost missed the young woman jogging on the opposite site of the street. She wore a medical mask and sportswear. But most importantly a white T-Shirt with a blue cube on it.

"Excuse me!", she exclaims as she runs towards the surprised looking woman. "Could you tell me how to get to Cube Entertainment?", she asks. "I am not from here and slightly lost." Impatiently she hobbles on the spot waiting for the woman to reply. Said woman still looks at her with a confused look. Embarrassed Yuqi realizes that in her hectic she has mumbled her sentences twice as fast and with horrible pronunciation. "Uuh...uh...how...where", she stumbles over her words. Flailing her arms in frustration she tries to collect herself to articulate in the foreign language.

"Are you Chinese?", the jogger asks her with an amused tone. "Yes." "Well let's try that then.", the stranger replies in Cantonese.

"Uh you are Chinese?", Yuqi asks happily. "Is it okay if I speak Mandarin? I need to get to the Cube Entertainment headquarters as fast as possible. I have", Yuqi peeks on her phone, "3 minutes".

"Better go fast then", the woman replies and starts jogging down the street towards the direction Yuqi came from. "Follow me. I am Elkie by the way." Dragging her suitcase behind her the soon-to-be trainee follows her. They come towards a busier street. Right above it and following its path on thick pillars are the train tracks. The whole area has a rough urban charm to it. And Yuqi has to admit that she likes it. Elkie notices her content gaze on the architecture.

“It looks kinda cool huh? Well just wait until you have trained for 10 hours straight and try to fall asleep while the trains are driving past the window every 15 minutes.”, she laughs. “Come on let’s go inside.”

Surprised that they already reached the company Yuqi looks up the building front. At the bottom a glass walled café is located. Over it are multiple floors and on the right side of the building an elegantly curving wood-structure is installed. It looks just like you would imagine the headquarters of one of Koreas leading entertainment companies to look like. Sleek, modern yet built with a sense for taste and functionality.

Elkie leads the way through the glass doors into a foyer that is only occupied by a gatekeeper that looks up as they enter. Elkie smiles at him and pushes Yuqi in front of her. “This is Yuqi”, she reveals to him. “I’ll get going then. See you sometime soon.”

Yuqi walks up to the desk: “I am the new trainee. Song Yuqi.”, she timidly introduces herself. The man is broad and short. He seems like he could easily win a boxing fight against an angry bull and eat half of it afterwards. Despite his intimidating appearance he comes off as a gentle and likeable man.

“Good morning Yuqi. My name is Park Chulmoo. This is your schedule”, he replies and slides a sheet of paper towards her. “I am the gatekeeper here. Which not only means I keep people out, but also you guys in here. Also, I’ll need you to hand over your cellphone. Sounds like prison so far doesn’t it?”, he says with a broad smile. “No worries. More often than not I am the one letting you poor souls off the hook if I catch you sneaking out at night or during training time. If you need anything at all ring me up.” He scribbles a phone number on her schedule. “Now you might wonder how to call anyone without a phone. I am ordered to take your phone away, but I can’t stop you from buying a new one and hiding it.”

A mischievous smirk appears on his face and Yuqi gets the impression that he finds great joy in helping the trainees break every rule in the book. “This is the key to your dorm room. And if I read your schedule correctly your dancing class starts in a bit. You should bring that suitcase of yours to the dorms and get changed and into the practice room for introductions and warm up. Any more questions?” Yuqi is a bit overwhelmed with all the information being thrown at her.

“Uhm no questions. Thank you very much”, she replies and grins back at him. “Oh, where are the dorms?”

“The dorms are down this floor and through the double doors towards the yard and this sign points you in the right direction with everything else.” He indicates a sign next to the elevators depicting the various levels and what was located on them.

“Thank you”, she says again and starts walking towards the dorms.

“Hold up young lady”, Chulmoo stops her. “You still have to turn your phone in. I’ll not let you off this easily”, he says in a cheerful voice and holds open a plastic bag. _Urgh, I knew this moment would come. But parting from my phone still feels horrible. At least I'll get it back once a week to update everyone back home._ With a grim look she turns her phone off and slides it into Chulmoo's bag.

Taking the folded paper out of the back-pocket of her trousers, Yuqi looks at her schedule for the day. _Dance – Beginners, practice room 3.2 - 7:30am_ it says there. Walking past Chulmoo and down the path he described to her she comes on the yard behind the company building. It was separated from the street behind by the walls of various small buildings at its sides and a bigger one to the left with a sign over the broad entrance reading _Dorms._ The entrance was separated in two. One for each side of the dorm building and a small cubicle just past it.Yuqi pushed the door leading to the female dorms open and heaved her suitcase over the small step.

Her search for the room number on her key lead her to room 6 in the back. Eager to see her room and home for the coming years she opened the door. First thing she saw was a brown-haired girl shooting through the room with a small squeak. Fast the girl pulled a sweater over her bra-clothed upper body and turned around again. Yuqi felt the heat shoot into her head. “I…I’m sorry!”, Yuqi apologized.

“It’s alright. I am Minnie your roommate.” The girl introduces herself. “You aren’t from Korea, are you?”

“I’m from China”, Yuqi answers shortly. “Sorry my Korean speaking isn’t good”

“Do you speak English?”, Minnie asks her.

“Yes! And way better than Korean”, Yuqi answers happily while switching to the other language.

“They probably didn’t tell you that we will share a room huh?”, Minnie asks.

“Yeah. Sorry to barge in like that. I’ll knock next time”, Yuqi answered contrite. “I didn’t know that you were in here. No one told me that I have a roommate.”

“Oh, it’s alright. If I knew it was you, I would’ve relaxed. I mean we’re both girls and roommates after all”, Minnie shrugs. “You also have dance class now or not? You should hurry up we gotta get going.”

Yuqi opens her suitcase and pulls out the next best clothes suited for dancing. She hesitates before turning her back on Minnie to change fast, all the while avoiding eye contact. Afterwards both hurry out of the dorms and back to the elevator. With a silent ping it arrives at ground level and both enter. Minnie impatiently closes the door by hammering on the button. Then she presses the number three.

A comfortable silence spreads in the elevator while they go up. Yuqi would have to remember to use all the right honorifics. Especially with the instructors and trainers. She always struggled with those back in school. And actually, talking and using them would not be any easier. _I could just use formal language for everyone. Using it too much can’t be worse than using it one time too few._ _B_ _esides I don’t even know who’s an artist and who’s a trainee or staff. I really should have learned a couple names and faces._ _And better try to stay close to Minnie. Just do what she does and try not to embarrass yourself more than you already did_ _._

They stepped out on the third floor and Minnie lead them into a large, windowless practice room to the left. There were already other female trainees warming up and stretching.

Yuqi shyly nods towards no one in particular and retreats into a free corner where she begins to stretch.

 

After class Yuqi goes back to the dorms to hit the showers. She enters their room, after knocking and giving Minnie more than enough time to make herself known. Minnie isn’t there and Yuqi let’s herself fall on the bed. For the first time she can take in her environment. There are two beds on each side of the room and opposite the door is a window with a table and two stools under it. It’s all very simple and functional. But the walls are painted in a soft eggshell white reflecting the sunlight from outside. And just past the window stands a gingko tree, which has a piercing green colour the now in autumn slowly turns to a dull yellow. Next to the beds are wardrobes for clothing and small cupboards for toiletries and similar small belongings. Looking at those Yuqi remembers that she still has to unpack. Dancing class was exhausting. While the dancing itself is something she is used to the strength exercises they did are not.

 _My body is already aching all over and it’s only the first day. I really should’ve tried to stay a bit more in shape. Well no time to laze around._ She jumps off the bed. _Dancing was hard but I didn’t come here to lie around in bed. Time to unpack fast, shower and then get to vocal classes. I really look forward to those._

After she was done Yuqi hurried out of the showers at the end of the tiled floor. Multiple trainees pass her by and she tries to avoid eye contact. Not knowing their names or how to greet them she hurries past without acknowledging their presence and they do the same.

Holding onto her schedule for orientation she decides to take the stairs next to the elevator. _Time to take myself up on my word and get in shape. Elevators are for lazy people who don’t want to debut. Then again maybe I don’t need to debut that fast. Those stairs are steep as hell and I need to get to the seventh floor. But entering the elevator on the fifth floor is also stupid. I’ll just take the elevator up and the stairs down next time._

Out of breath Yuqi pushed open the fire door and came to a row of doors behind which sound isolated, small vocal rooms were located. She looked on her schedule and entered the mentioned room. Waiting for her was a small and thin woman in a long knit-dress. She smiled warmly at her.

“Hello Yuqi. An Mija”, she extends her hand. “I’ll be your vocal trainer for the near-future.”

Yuqi shakes the offered hand and gives a little bow. “Song Yuqi. Nice to meet you.” She smiles faintly.

“Alright Yuqi. You can read and speak Korean or not? What I need you to do is take these lyrics. Listen to the song I’ll play for you once and try to sing after it as good as you can. We’ll see where we’re starting out after that.”

Yuqi grabs paper and headphones patiently waiting for the music to set in.

“Well. I’ll have to ask you to stand before the microphone and sing into it”, Mija smiles.

Yuqi blushes. “Ah…yes, sure. Sorry.” With a deep breath she walks before the microphone and waits for the music. A Korean trot song comes on. Yuqi hates it. And the woman crooning in her ear really didn’t sing all that clear. After listening to the song once Yuqi tries to imitate the singer. Reading off the lyric sheet is hard though and she falls behind after the first few lines. Irritated she stops and carefully looks at the trainer.

“No worries. Let’s try something else. Maybe Korean is too hard for now. You can learn that in Korean classes, here it’s about singing. So we’ll give you something you can sing. Let’s try American pop songs for now.”

Dua Lipa starts playing and Yuqi feels more at home with that.

 

Yuqi happily leaves the practice room after her vocal lessons. Mija had complimented her work and begun to assist her in developing a singing voice fitting to her register and abilities. Singing to Dua Lipa had been fun and her head was filled with new ideas of singing and she could already tell that with time and endurance she would be able to sing like a real performer.

It was high time for dinner and Yuqi went to the eating hall. At midday she had only eaten some of the provisons she still had from her travel. But now she craved a warm meal. Entering the vast room on the second floor she was surprised and slightly overwhelmed by the amount of people in it. She could've guessed that this big of a building would offer space for a lot of employees. But just now the huge scope of running a music label hit her. And how she was just a small part of it. Just like everyone else. Once again, she decides to work extra hard. She feels like letting down all those hard-working people would be worse than anything she could have to put up with in the future.

She gets a steaming bowl of ramyeon at the counter and walks along the tables. The trainees seem to mostly sit in the back and Yuqi decides to do the same. While looking out for a secluded spot she sees Elkie waving at her. With a hesitant smile Yuqi approaches her. “Hey. Thanks again for showing me the way this morning. I would’ve been too late on my first day without your help”, she greets the older girl.

“Don’t mention it. I wanted to ask you if you would like to join me on my early-morning jogging route? I usually start at half past five.”

“Oh. If you’ll have me. Sure”, Yuqi answers. She was pleasantly surprised at the offer. She felt a little bit lonely without friends or family in a foreign country. And Elkie was quite nice. Also, she enjoys talking in her mother tongue with her.

“Great. I’ll meet you at the dorm entrance”, replies Elkie with a warm smile.

“I’ll be on my way then”, Yuqi excuses herself and keeps walking towards the back of the room.

“See you tomorrow!”, Elkie yells after her.

Yuqi carefully approaches a table with some of the girls from her dancing class. “Excuse me. Is this place taken?”, Yuqi asks quietly.

One of the girls on the table pointed to the chair opposite to her: “Take a seat.”

“Thank you”, Yuqi replied and pulls the chair out.

“You arrived today didn’t you? I’m Soojin. What’s your name?”

“Yuqi,” she answers. “I’m from Beijing.”

Soojin takes a bite of her food and chews. “How do you like it here so far? Did you have dancing with the others this morning?”

Yuqi nods. “Yes, it was really exhausting but I guess that’s the point”.

“Well they go hard on the people in the beginner class. But once you get more advanced, they focus on actual dancing and choreo. So, if you’re any good at it you should be out of there in a month or two.”

 _Two months of this! It’ll be hard but just another reason to work on my dancing. I just wish they’d actually let us do something else but endurance and strength exercises._ “Well I haven’t done much dancing up to this point”, Yuqi mentions.

“Don’t worry. They want to get you on a basic level of fitness first, so you can actually pull off the dance moves they try to teach you. No point in teaching you something when you’re limited by your body strength.”

“Makes sense. Are you good at dancing?”

“I guess. I am in the advanced class and can usually pick up the moves after two or three tries. But that’s what they expect you to be able to do. So not much to brag about I am afraid.”

“Sounds harsh.” Yuqi became increasingly anxious about the performance demanded from her.

“It is. But then again that’s why only the best get to debut. If they go easy on anyone, they’ll have a mediocre group, and no one likes or pays for those. If you’d like I can help you with dancing. I usually train with Soyeon in a free practice room after classes.”

“Jeon Soyeon? She was on Produce 101 or not?”, Yuqi asks interested. She watched that show religiously earlier that year. “But yes. If you’ll have me, I’d love to join. But I’ll probably only be in your way”, she ads apologetical.

“Oh, that’s alright. We need more people to practice actual choreographies and with teaching the basics we also refine them. Besides Soyeon is currently on another survival show and practicing alone isn’t any fun. How about I meet you at eight in the yard and we see if we can find a free room?”.

“Sounds great.” Yuqi is relieved that she already met someone she can spend her free time with. Or what is considered free time when being a trainee. If she would not spend her free time practicing there'd be no way to ever get good enough to pass her first couple evaluations, not even mentioning leaving an impression to get into the debut team.

Happy that she already got a few acquaintances on her first day in Korea, Yuqi digs into her ramyeon.

 

After dinner she goes back to the dorms and, after knocking, enters Minnie’s and her room. Minnie sits at the table munching on a sandwich and seems rather unhappy. Startled by Yuqi entering, Minnie raises from the chair and turns towards her.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you”, Yuqi utters reassuringly. “Were you not at dinner?”, she asks carefully. _Minnie really seems down. Did she sit up her only eating that sandwich? And she hasn’t even eaten much of it. I can’t tell for sure, but she looks like she cried. Wonder what’s wrong._ “Are you alright?”, she asks softly.

Minnie looks up and hesitates. “I’m…”, she stops. “I don’t know.” With a frustrated expression she sits down on the floor, her back against the bed. “No. No I’m not alright. Sometimes I am questioning whether becoming a trainee was the right decision. Sure, everyone here has that dream of becoming a singer, and I do too. But looking at all those people who are not making it every year I am wondering if I have what it takes. On the good days I try my hardest to make that dream come true and on the bad days, well I sit here and brood.”

Yuqi sits down next to her. “I am not sure what to say or how to help. But next time you have a bad day talk to me. Ok?”

I’ll try. Thank you Yuqi,” Minnie gives her a faint smile.

“I am meeting up with Soojin in half an hour to practice. You can join us, if you want to?”, Yuqi offers.

“Sounds good.” Minnie says and jumps up with a happy smile to pull comfortable clothes out of her closet. “Soojin is really good at dancing. I am sure we can learn a lot from her. Wonder what she plans to practice. The last dance we did in dancing lessons was way too simple. Then again they probably want to get us on a solid foundation. And I must admit that I am far from that. Only thing I am good at is singing. But that alone doesn’t get you in the debut team. It’s actually so nice that Soojin is offering to help us out. She always seemed shy to me, not like the type that reaches out to new people you know. Then again I am not much better so who am I to talk.” Minnie turns around to Yuqi. “What?”, she asks, seeing Yuqi’s amused look.

“Oh, nothing!”, Yuqi replies in a cheeky tone and starts to go through her cabinet.

After both are changed it is ten before eight and, after filling their water bottles in the bathrooms, the two of them walk onto the yard.

 

In the middle of the yard is a water basin with benches on the side. Now in the middle of September the water is let out. After time and time again someone caught a cold jumping into it, with less than ideal outside temperatures to do so, it is almost never filled. Behind the water basin is a tall tree that at daytime throws its shade onto the tiled ground. Now with the sun down the two lamps standing left and right of the basin are lit and give everything surrounding them a faint dark yellow tone.

Minnie and Yuqi sit down on the bench and wait for Soojin. Ten minutes later Soojin comes out of the main building, outfitted in sportswear and with a towel and water bottle in hand. Yuqi rises and walks towards her. “Hello. I brought Minnie with me. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. Like I said the more the merrier”, Soojin smiles at Minnie. “Alright let’s check in with Chulmoo and see if he can point us to a free room.” She leads them back into the foyer and walks to the counter. “Hi Chulmoo. Are there any free practice rooms?”

“Ah, hello Soojin. I was wondering when you’d start picking up the dancing again,” Chulmoo grabbed the computer mouse behind the counter. “Let me check. Room 3.4 A is free. And make sure to close the window this time around or I’ll bust you next time I catch you climbing walls”, he said with a stern expression that was betrayed by the slightly raised corners of his mouth.

Soojin laughs, “Don’t worry, we’ll close them all and double check when we leave.”

The three of them go up to the practice room. It is a small one, separated with a movable wall from the room next to it, and has a mirror covered wall on the far side. Soojin peeks behind the false wall. “Good we’re alone. It’s annoying when we don’t have the room for ourselves and they start blasting music from the other side.”

Minnie walks up to the stereo and a catchy beat starts playing on medium volume. After warming up they start doing basic dance moves under the direction of Soojin. And after both Minnie and Yuqi pick those up quite fast they go to more advanced steps. “Use the mirrors and look at yourself”, Soojin remarks. “If it looks like you’re watching cable TV you’re doing something right.”

Yuqi looks at herself dancing. _I am looking at my feet all the time trying to see if I do the right steps. And I look less than confident. And my moves look kind of wobbly. I guess confidence is key._ Yuqi decides to ignore doing it right for a moment and instead tries to get in the right mindset. _You debuted. You are standing on the stage of the year end awards and millions of people are watching. You already won 10 rookie awards and it’s time to do what you always do. Dance until the fangirls in the first row pass out._ She stands still for a few seconds and takes a deep breath. Then she lets herself fall into the music.

After a moment Minnie and Soojin stop practicing and observe her with a look of surprise and astonishment. “Wow. How did you do that?”, Minnie asks when Yuqi finishes.

Yuqi slowly comes back to reality and realizes that both her training partners are staring at her like she grew a second head. “Uh, well I…”, she blushes under the astonished looks. “I realized that I had to be more confident. So, I imagined I had already debuted and was on the big stage and all that. And that I had done this over and over and it gave me the right emotions to just let go and dance.” Yuqi smiles happily. “I really feel like I figured something out today. Without Soojin saying that we should look at the mirror and try to dance like professionals I would’ve never gotten there. But I still need to practice and learn so much.” She looks eagerly at Soojin.

“Well let’s keep going then”, Soojin says and picks another song. They keep practicing until late that night. And while it’s exhausting and Yuqi can still feel her sore muscles from the dance classes early this morning she is more motivated than ever. _It’s just my first day here and I already feel like I have learned so much and advanced quite a bit. Soojin and Minnie are so nice too. And everyone here is striving to be a better performer. I really think I made the right decision. I’m in the right place to work hard for my dream._

             

At half past eleven they close the windows and leave the room. “Thank you so much for letting me join”, Minnie thanks Soojin. “This was the first time in a while that dancing was fun for me.”

“Really? I love dancing, well I guess everyone has their preferences. You’re more than welcome to join again next time. You too Yuqi.”

“I’d love to.” Yuqi answers happily. Minnie nods in agreement. “When is Soyeon coming back? Her dancing on Produce was great.” Yuqi asks towards Soojin.

“I am not sure depends how far she makes it in the show. But I think the filming should be over towards the end of the month. So that’s when she should be back at the latest. I really hope she wins. She’s incredibly talented. Everyone in the company says so.” Soojin praises her friend.

“What did Chulmoo back then mean when he said he wouldn’t let you off the hook for climbing walls?” Minnie asked curiously.

“Oh that.” Soojin laughs. “From time to time we hang around on the roofs and the only way to get there is to climb up the yard wall. The guys have access to the roofs over their windows. They throw a rope over the wall, so the others can climb up there. We try to time it, so we get out when Chulmoo is making his turns at ten. But he isn’t dumb. He knows we’re sneaking out. He can even hear us talking and laughing from his cubicle at the dorms. But as long as we don’t drink or fall off the roof he leaves us alone. He’s pretty chill. It’s a miracle how he hasn’t gotten fired considering his job is to bust us whenever he can”, Soojin sniggers. “If you want you can also come to that.”

“When is the next one?”, Yuqi asks?

“I am not sure but probably soon. If you give me your phone numbers I can text you when I know the date.”

“Sure, I’ll give you my number tomorrow at breakfast ok?”, Minnie replies. “Do you already have a new phone Yuqi?”, she turns to her.

“No, not yet. But I might be able to get one before breakfast tomorrow.”

“Alright then that’s settled”, Soojin declares as they reach the ground floor. “See you guys tomorrow!”, she waves as she walks towards the lockers to get her stuff. They both wave at her and wish her a good night.

“Do only foreign trainees live in the dorms?”, Yuqi asks Minnie.

“Yes, mostly. And the Korean ones living too far away from Seoul.”

“Where are you from? I think I never asked.”

“Thailand”, Minnie answers.

“Hmm. I am so tired”, Yuqi mumbles.

“That makes two of us. Let’s wash up and go to bed. We’ll need the sleep.” After doing just that they fall into their beds and bid each other a good night. _I am so tired. It was a hard day. But I think I can get used to this. And Minnie and Soojin are nice. I hope I can become friends with them._ Yuqi thinks contently before passing out.

 

 

 

* * *

_Going forward I will tell the story from Yuqi's and Soyeon's perspective. But the focus is on Yuqi, so her chapters will be more extensive and go into more detail. The perspective will switch with each chapter. Next chapter will be Soyeon's and she'll meet Yuqi for the very first time._

_As you might've realized I am not a native speaker. So if you have any corrections regarding grammar or such things just shoot me a comment. I am more than happy to make corrections. Also if you have suggestions, feedback or requests I'll gladly hear all of it._

_Thanks for reading!_

 

_First released on the 1st of January 2019_

 

This work can also be found under the same author/title on asianfanfics.com ( _[Link](https://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1384138/1/idle-life-at-cube-sliceoflife-soyeon-predebut-gidle-yuqi-yuqixsoyeon-multipleperspectives) _).

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

She is on her way back home. The grey street passing by the car window shines in the soft, orange light of the sunset. Jeon Soyeon couldn’t help but be disappointed. She wanted to be anywhere but in this car. Being here meant she had failed.

She lays her head against the cold glass. It was uncomfortable, and she must open her mouth slightly, so her teeth don’t rattle against each other. But that at least distracts her from her brooding. With feeling uncomfortable she could deal. But now that she got eliminated from her second survival show, just thinking about it brings her to the brink of tears. _I should call mum. That’s what I always do when I have a hard time. I doubt it’ll help. This is just so frustrating. I worked so hard and it’s not paying off. But no, there’s no point in sulking._ She sighs. With a scowl Soyeon straightens in her chair and suppresses the tears. She pulls out her cellphone and navigates to her mother’s number. She’d be asleep right now since she worked the early morning shift. But she would want her to call anyways. After the fourth ring the phone gets picked up: “Soyeon!”, her mother answers in a cheerful tone. “How are you? Is everything alright?”

“Hello mum. Were you already sleeping?”, she replied quietly.

“Yes, I was, but you know you can call me anytime. Now tell me what’s up. You never call this late unless you want to talk.”

“I got eliminated. I was so close to getting first place and I still failed.”

“Why would you say that?”, her mum responded in her typical scolding but loving tone. “You only failed if you had given up or didn’t work hard to reach your goal. We can’t always get what we want. You know that. If you feel like you tried your best, then you should be satisfied.”

“I know. It’s still not easy. Thank you for listening mum.”

“You are very welcome Soyeon. Keep on working hard you hear me? Eat well and make sure you wear warm clothes. It’s autumn and right after that is winter. And you know that dad and I are proud of you, don’t you?”

“Yes, yes I do. Bye! Until tomorrow”, Soyeon replies and hangs up the phone. She feels better after talking with her mother. Her voice always calms her and brings her back to what’s important.

They drive into Seongdong-gu and Soyeon perked up upon seeing the familiar neighborhood. Although she was not happy to be back so soon, she was looking forward to seeing Soojin, Yeeun and all the others again. As soon as the car stops in front of the company building, she jumps off the backseat and rushes to the trunk. Pulling out a couple of her bags, just so she doesn’t feel as bad letting her manager carry the rest, she runs up to the main entrance.

Chulmoo greets her with a wide grin. “Back so soon from the rap-battle? I saw you on TV. You put up quite the show. If I ever cross you remind me how you demolished that poor girl live on TV”, he jokes with a proud grin on his face.

“It wasn’t live. But thanks, Chulmoo”, she grins back at him.

“At least I can now stop watching this trash channel”, he says with a snarky grim look on his face.

Soyeon just rolls her eyes. Chulmoo took things personal when it came to the trainees under his supervision. While she was walking to the lockers, he already got his phone out to cancel his  M-Net subscription, all while mumbling something about snakes and rigging.

She carried her luggage to the locker rooms and put it all in a secluded corner, so no one would fall over it. Most of the articles in her load belonged to the company. She only took her backpack with her few personal items back home. It was late and time for her to leave if she wanted to sleep more than a couple hours. Waving bye to Chulmoo she opens the door and walks out into the cold air.

 

As the crimson sun set slowly in the horizon, the pavement is only lit by the streetlamps between the heavy pillars supporting the train tracks. Soyeon walks a few steps down Achasan-ro before taking a left turn. The smaller streets are darker but also less frequented. She dislikes walking next to all the noisy cars passing by. Here, between small cafés, shops and brick buildings she has a bit of peace and quiet while walking to the train station.

With a faint smile she walks through the darkness. _Finally, no one around. Mum always cautions me about taking the back streets. But I like the quietness and solitude. No one waving a schedule under my nose or telling me what to rap, sing or dance._ She reaches the stairway up to the station. After getting a ticket at one of the self-service vending machines at the entrance, she walks up to the platform and sits down on a bench. She pulls out her small notebook and starts reading through the lyrics she jotted down in it. There were half-finished raps for imaginary songs, angrily scribbled rhymes from when she was upset and various doodles and random words that she might try to insert later on. After staring at it for a while and rereading old notes over and over she puts it away again. A few minutes later the train arrives, and she boards it. Once again putting her forehead against the glass she stares down onto the city passing by her.

 

The next morning, she steps off the train with a coffee in hand. On the lower level of the station she buys pastries. She plans on giving some to Soojin and Chulmoo, maybe some other people too. But that would depend on how many of them remained after the walk to the company. With a happy grin she bites into the first pastry she pulls out of the paper bag. Ten minutes later she pulls open the front door. “Good morning Chulmoo. I got some pastries to celebrate my return.”

“Good morning Soyeon!”, Chulmoo answered enthusiastically. He reaches into the offered bag and gets powdered sugar and crumbs all over the place while pulling his hand out. “Thanks. Damn it! This is a mess.” He frowns while wiping over the counter.

Soyeon suppresses a laugh and walks through the lobby into the yard. She finds a secluded spot and sends Soojin a text message.

SY: I’m back. Am in the yard.

Soojin answers a few seconds later.

SJ: :OOO omw

She sits down on the grass next to the tree and keeps an eye on the main building entrance. Suddenly she hears a giggle from behind her. She turns around and sees Soojin leaning on the wall. “Where are you coming from?”, she asks her surprised. _Where did she come from so suddenly? I even kept an eye on the yard entrance._ She jumps up and pulls her into a hug. “From the dorms”, Soojin laughs and lets go of her. “I visited Minnie and Yuqi. They should come out shortly they just have to get ready.”

“Yuqi? Is she new?” Soyeon asks. _Hmm. Wonder since when she hangs around with Minnie. We never had much to do with her. And Yuqi? Hmm… Soojin definitely was busy extending our circle while I was gone. I already sound so negative. Why am I like this? I might even like them but am already distancing myself._

She offers Soojin the pastries. “Come on take one.”

“You know I’m on a diet. I must shed some weight. Get those away from me, before I get tempted.”

Soyeon smiles to herself. Soojin always was on diet. And after a couple days she’d just go eat a week’s worth of sweets and fast food. She was hopeless. Then again that meant more pastries for her and she wouldn’t complain. That much was for certain.

After they talked for a while under the shade of the tree Yuqi and Minnie came out of the dorms.

Soyeon spots them at once, immediately her eye fell upon Yuqi. _Woah, she’s pretty. I like her eyes._ She stands up and swipes over her bottom to get the grass and dirt off her trousers. “Hello Yuqi. I am Jeon Soyeon”, she formally introduces herself.

“Hi. I am Song Yuqi”, Yuqi answers timidly. “Nice to meet you. I watched Produce 101. You were great on there.”

“Thanks”, Soyeon smiles at her warmly. _Her voice is nice. How does such a small girl have such a husky voice? Huh. What a weird thing to notice. I must be more tired than I thought. I wonder how her singing voice sounds?_

“Soyeon!”, Soojin raised her voice. She looks at her with a slightly worried and amused look. “Everything alright? You kinda blanked out just now.”

“Huh? Oh yeah. Sorry. Hey, Minnie.” She grins at the other girl. “How’s the dancing going?”

“Good, thank you. We had a small training session with Soojin yesterday. I think that helped me a lot.”

Soyeon meets Soojin’s eyes questionably, who just shrugs her shoulders slightly. “I took up the late-night dancing practice again. And since you weren’t there, I offered Yuqi and Minnie to join in. We need more people for choreos anyways”, Soojin argued.

“Hey. I didn’t complain”, Soyeon stops Soojin from explaining herself further.

“We’re not very advanced and we don’t want to hold you back”, Minnie remarked apologetically. “I mean you and Soojin are really good and we’d totally understand if you don’t want to have us.”

Soyeon scowls. “That’s not a very good reason to exclude someone. We all start somewhere. I’d love to have you two join us again tonight.” _I wonder if Yuqi is any good at dancing. I can show her the basics. Since she’s new she can’t be that advanced._

“That reminds me, we’re having another rooftop party tonight. If we want to go to that we won’t really have time for practice,” Soojin announces, breaking the slight tension that built had built up.

“Again? I thought you just had one last week?”

“Yeah. But… well…we’re having one again. You like those parties no?”, Soojin replied with a flustered expression.

“Yes, sure I do. I am just surprised. You know we can’t have a party every other day. The company is tolerating them, but they won’t look the other way for long if we overdo it.” She turns towards Minnie and Yuqi. “I assume you guys are also coming?”

“Sure!”, Minnie exclaims eagerly.

“Uhm. I don’t have any nice clothes to wear though”, Yuqi throws in with concern.

“We can go shopping before we have to get ready. We won’t have much time but I’m sure we can free up an hour or so”, Minnie says excitedly.  

“Okay I’ll go”, Yuqi says and smiles into the round.

 

After a day of hard work and training, Soyeon takes the elevator up to the roof. When she enters it, there are already a couple Pentagon members standing in it and talking loudly.

“Oh! Hey Soyeon. Are you coming to the party tonight?”, Hui asks her animatedly.

“Yeah, I guess I am”, Soyeon replies.

“Is Soojin coming with you?”

“Yes, as always Soojin and I are going to the party together”, Soyeon answers a bit dryly. _I just want to go up to the roof and relax for a bit. Can he please just stop talking. I just want to be left alone._

The other members smirk at Hui. “What!?”, he snaps at them.

Soyeon presses the button to the seventh floor and the elevator stops a few seconds later. “I thought you wanted to the roof.”, Hui exclaims.

“Yes. I am taking the stairs.”

Without giving them a second glance, she steps off the elevator and takes the stairway. Soon after, she opens the door to the roof. There are a few wooden benches and a small but neat lawn. On it, there was a sign prohibiting to step on the grass.

She took a seat and looked over the city. This might be her favourite spot at the company. The air is as fresh as it gets in Seoul and she can see the tree covered hills beyond the city. The breeze made her feel pleasantly cold after all the dancing. Just as she took a sips from her water bottle her phone vibrates in her belt bag. She had received another text from Soojin.

SJ: We are going shopping now. We’re waiting for you at the elevator.

SY: I haven’t even showered! And who is we?

SJ: Minnie, Yuqi and I. And no excuses. We’ll let you join us being smelly and everything.

 _Urgh. I just want to shower and get ready for the party on my own. Well you’d just relax, think and write lyrics anyways. Might as well do something social._ Soyeon sighs and sends Soojin a reply:

SY: Alright :/  

A minute later she stepped off the elevator. The three girls were waiting for her at the main entrance.

“Hurry up Soyeon. We don’t have much time”, Soojin cautioned.

“That reminds me Hui asked me if you’d come to the party”, Soyeon answered with a mischievous smile.

Soojin just turns around and walks out the front door. Yuqi and Minnie glanced after her. _Hehe. That shut her up._

“Where are we going?”, Yuqi asked worriedly.

“There is a nice clothing store most of us go to. It’s close by”, Minnie reassures her.

Ten minutes later they are standing before the store. It has a wooden logo over the glass doors and in the store windows are various simple but nice pieces exhibited.

 _This is really not my kind of shop. Too girly, too fancy and all around not my style._ _But Yuqi seems to like it._

Yuqi’s eyes become bigger and bigger while watching the items on display. “I love this!”, she shouts excitedly, pointing at a light blue blouse. Eagerly she enters the shop and walks straight to the display.

Meanwhile Soyeon searches for the store clerk. _Might as well finish it fast. We still have to get ready after all._ “Excuse me? Is this blue blouse in the window for sale? My friend likes it a lot.”

The saleswoman smiles politely. “Oh, yes. Follow me.”

She walks through the store and brings Soyeon to an aisle with various blouses in multiple colours. Soyeon walks towards Yuqi who’s still admiring the display. “I found the blouse you were going on about”, she says and grabs Yuqi by the underarm. She drags her back to the aisle. “What size do you have?”

“Uh I am not sure maybe 45 in Korean sizes?” After a quick search Soyeon grabs sizes 44, 45 and 46. She holds the 45 to Yuqi’s shoulders.

“Looks great. Now we need trousers”, Soyeon replies.

Minnie is already waving from the other side of the shop. “Minnie already found the right section. Come on.” Soyeon says and drags Yuqi by her hand. _Oops. I didn’t plan on holding hands with her. Her hand is so soft though. And yours is probably super sweaty. Just let go already._ She readjusts her grip to drag Yuqi at her sleeve.

Soojin already has multiple trousers in hand and pressures Yuqi to pick one. “I am not sure. Aren’t those a bit tight? They might not even fit”, Yuqi comments with a skeptical expression.

“Of course, it’ll fit. And if it doesn’t, we’ll get a size bigger. Now take those two and get into the changing room. Try it on.” Yuqi takes the offered clothes with a worried expression.

After a minute of complaining and discarding various clothing items she comes out of the changing cubicle.

Minnie and Soojin smile widely and compliment her on her new outfit. _Woah! How does she look so cute and sexy at the same time! Those trousers are way too form fitting and this blouse is so cute!_ At this moment she realizes that she has stared at Yuqi open-mouthed for quite a while, and all three girls have caught on.

 

 

 

* * *

_Special thanks to Angie for beta reading and feedback!_

_Next chapter we'll come back to Yuqi's perspective and start where we left off with the end of the first chapter._

_Thanks for reading!_

 

_First released on the 6th of January 2019_

 

Explanation of possibly unclear terms/names:

Seongdong-gu (성동구): one of the 25 districts of Seoul. The Cube Headquarters are located here.

Achasan-ro (아차산로): the main road the company is located at. There are actually tracks leading over it! Check it out in Google Streetview. I think it looks great.


	3. Chapter 3

The two girls are sleeping soundly. Yuqi had kicked her blanket to the foot of the bed during the night and is lying in fatal position. The dim morning light shining through the gingko outside, revealing the small giraffes covering her favourite pajamas. On the opposite side of the room lies Minnie sprawled out on her bed, with her arm hanging onto the floor. She had somehow managed to turn 180 degrees while tossing around while asleep. It was early morning and the birds started chirping outside.

A careful knock at the door can be heard. Since no one answers the knocking becomes louder and more insistent. After a series of loud, hard knocks, that must surely hurt the knuckles of the person doing the knocking, Minnie jolts awake. With a sleepy grumble she pulls herself out of bed and towards the door. “Yes?”, she asks groggily after pulling the door open just a crack.

“Good morning. Sorry to wake you up, but… I wanted to take Yuqi jogging this morning”, Elkie explains on the other side of the door.

“Oh. Go right ahead. I’ll go back to sleep”, Minnie yawns and with a loud thud throws herself right back into her bed. Alarmed by the sudden noise Yuqi awakens and looks around disoriented. Her eyes widen as she sees Elkie grinning at her from the door frame.

“Oh shit”, she swears in Mandarin. “I mean… I am so sorry. What time is it?”

“Uhm. It’s 20 minutes past five. Do you still want to go jogging?”, Elkie answers in a kind voice.

“Yes sure. I don’t have a phone yet and I didn’t bring an alarm clock. I’m really sorry. I just have to dress and wash up and we can go.”

“Don’t worry about showering or anything like that. You’ll just have to do it again when we come back. Throw on some comfortable clothes and take some money with you and we can go”, Elkie instructs.

“Money? Are we buying something?”, Yuqi asks carefully. She doesn’t have much money with her, and her budget won’t allow for big expenses.

“20.000 won will be enough”, Elkie points at the door. “I’ll wait outside. See you in a bit.”

Yuqi changes into sweatpants and hoodie and takes her wallet with her.

She finds Elkie outside the dorms stretching in the yard. The cold morning air cuts into her face and she starts with the warm up exercises. She is still tired and doesn’t feel like initiating a conversation, so she just repeats Elkie’s movements beside her.

“We’ll just take my usual route and go shopping on the way back. Is that fine by you?”, Elkie asks.

“Sure. Sounds great”, Yuqi replies timidly. “What are we buying?”

“You need a new phone, no?”, Elkie looks at her questioningly.

“Oh, yes. I almost forgot about that. Is 20.000 won really enough?”, Yuqi wonders.

“The company doesn't allow smartphones. So, we have to do with calling and SMS. On the bright side pre-paid phones are cheap and you can get them everywhere. That's enough stretching. Let's go.”

 

Elkie leads the way off company grounds and the two jogs through the neighbourhood in a relaxed tempo. They pass small trucks delivering goods to the tiny shops lining the streets, store owners noisily lifting the shutters and a few other pedestrians that are up early to go to work or go after their own morning rituals. After a while they reach a small park. From behind the fence Yuqi can see large groves of trees and a basketball pitch in the distance. On it are a handful of seniors doing Qi Gong. Seeing them Yuqi feels a sudden stab of homesickness. The scene reminds her of her daily bus drives to school in Beijing.

I miss home. But I guess I miss home ever since I boarded the plane.Yuqi sighs. I should just get a grip. Think of something else, Yuqi! I like this time of year. It's not too hot and not too cold. All the plants become so colourful and my birthday also is in autumn. Hmm… my birthday. I’ll just say nothing. Better to not have anyone - or worse no one, make a fuss about it.

“Come. I want to show you something”, Elkie says and directs her onto a path through the park. To their left is a bench with a bronze figurine sitting on it. It depicts an old shoemaker with a hammer in hand, going about his work.

“Let's rest for a bit”, Elkie suggests and sits down next to the craftsman. “I'm not sure why he was put up here. But I also never asked”, she remarked while patting the statue on the head.

“How are you holding up?”, she asked Yuqi in a concerned tone.

“Oh. It’s alright. Yesterday was just exhausting. But that’s what everyone has warned me about. And I know I must be diligent to make the debut team”, Yuqi replies with conviction. “Also, I already got to know Minnie and Soojin. I like them and if I can become friends with them all this will become way easier. At least I hope so.”

“Seems like you have it figured out”, Elkie smiles, reassured. “Yeah, friends are the most important thing here. Without them and their support you can’t possibly make it.” She pauses and the two of them sit in companionable silence for a few minutes. “Well, let’s buy you a phone!”, Elkie exclaims and jumps up. Yuqi, startled by the sudden movement, follows her after composing herself.

With an out of breath Yuqi on her heels, Elkie reaches a small shop selling its goods through a window looking out onto the street. It is located in the labyrinth of small pathways and streets behind the company building. An old man leans on the window sill and smiles as he sees the young women approaching.

“Hello. I see you have brought someone with you on your morning route”, he greets Elkie in a jovial tone.

“Yup. And today we also need a phone”, Elkie announces pointing at Yuqi. 

“Yes, yes. Let’s see”, he mumbles and walks into the back of his shop in search for the article.

Yuqi takes a peek into the shop. It seems impossibly deep and narrow. Which is most likely due to the shelves on both sides of the room, reaching from the floor to the ceiling. There are all kinds of items. From food and drinks to electronics, handkerchiefs, flashlights, cigarettes, a myriad of different magazines and books, DVDs and dried fruit in glass jars.

After rumbling around in the depths of his shop the vendor comes to the store front again and puts a box containing a simple Samsung cell phone in it on the counter. With it come two cups of yogurt and very thin drinking straws.

“What is your favourite food, young lady?”, he asks Yuqi with a warm smile.

“Uhm. I don’t know. I like sour things”, Yuqi replies uncertainly.

“Ah. Let me see what I have in the back”, the old man says and disappears between the shelves again. A moment later he returns with a small plastic container. “This is pickled radish. I sell it together with the instant ramen. Go ahead, it’s on the house”, he offers her the radish with a set of chopsticks.

Yuqi graciously accepts the gift with a polite bow. Her eyes light up with the first bite as she tries the radish. This is delicious. I could eat this all day long. I wonder how much it costs. “Hmm. Thank you. This is really good”, she says happily. With a happy grin the old man nods.

“This’ll be 18.000 won”, he declares and looks expectantly at Elkie. Yuqi hastily pulls out the two 10.000 won bills she stuffed into her pocket. “I’ll pay for it”, she interrupts as Elkie tries to fish out some coins.

“Thanks. But next time I’ll pay”, Elkie declares in a playfully threatening tone. “You should unbox your phone so you can take it with you more easily.” After she did just that Yuqi keeps it in the zip pocket of her sweatpants, and the two go on their way after saying goodbye to the kind old man.

As they close in on the company Elkie stops Yuqi and gives her the yogurt. “How do we eat this?”, Yuqi asks confused.

“Now the real sport begins”, Elkie grins. She takes out one of the straws and pokes it through the aluminium foil of the yogurt cup. Then she starts drinking the yogurt through the straw. With great effort she sucks the viscous fluid out of the yogurt cup. And Yuqi can’t help but giggle seeing her struggle. “Quit laughing and drink yours. If you do it this way your muscles will get trained and your singing improves”, Elkie glares at her.

Yuqi sniggers and starts to drink. After a few seconds she hasn’t even gotten the yogurt halfway up the straw and her cheek muscles burn. With a determined scowl she continues and, while she can’t eat the yogurt as fast as Elkie can, she has emptied half the cup when they reach the company building.

 

Twenty minutes later she has showered and is on her way to breakfast, her new phone secured in her pockets. Just as she wants to walk past the water basin Minnie and Soojin approached her. “Yuqi! We brought you some breakfast”, Minnie calls to her.

“We thought you wouldn’t make it in time”, Soojin explains.

“Thanks!”, Yuqi happily replies and takes the offered plastic bag containing a tin box with rice and vegetables.

“Let’s go inside. It’s freezing out here”, Soojin says with a shiver. The three head back into the dorm and huddle together in Yuqi’s and Minnie’s room. Minnie turns on the heater and they all sit down on Yuqi’s bed. “I can’t wait for the party tonight”, Soojin blurts out. “I brought extra clothes from home to wear. Do you want to see them?” Since she seems very eager to present her outfit Yuqi nods at her, while chewing on her rice. Soojin pulls a pair of shorts and a tank top out of her handbag. “Are you insane?”, Minnie cries out. “You’ll die wearing that while it’s this cold outside. Also, don’t you think that’s a bit… I don’t know.”

“A bit what?”, Soojin asks her with a raised eyebrow. Minnie is right this outfit is a bit too skimpy. Soojin doesn’t look like that bothers her though. “Give her something to wear under it”, she suggests towards Minnie. Grumbling, Minnie pulls a pair of tights out of her closet and, with a sour expression, drops them into Soojin’s lap. Soojin rolls her eyes and tries to reject the lend clothing.

“How many trainees are there in the company right now?”, Yuqi asks trying to change the topic and calm the situation.

“I am not sure, but I think around 20 female trainees”, Soojin answers. “It’s hard to keep up since many are gone after a month or two and many join every month.”

Wow, that are a lot. And if I want to debut, I’ll have to be better than most of them. That reminds me I don’t even know when my first evaluations are. “Uhm, by the way. When are the monthly evaluations? No one told me a time or place.”

“Urgh, don’t remind me”, Minnie sighs. “As if I’d be able to forget them. They’re at the first Friday of the month. And they’re coming closer. I really need to improve my dancing if I want to stay here.”

“Well that’s what the practice is for. Don’t worry if you know what to work on you can always pass the evaluations. It gets hard when you need to actually be good. Like expressions, stage presence and all that stuff. I am working on that for a while now and just can’t nail it down”, Soojin complains.

“I have finished eating”, Yuqi declares. “Uhm, I bought a phone this morning. So, if you guys want to have my number…”, she announces in a shy voice.

“That was fast. Give me your phone”, Soojin says and enters her number into the phone. She passes it on to Minnie who also enters her number.

“Great. Let’s go to practice”, Minnie says and opens the door. As they’re halfway out of the room Soojin’s phone buzzes. “You don’t have to send me a text Yuqi. I already sent your number to my phone”, she says in an amused tone and turns around to her.

Yuqi raises her hands in dismissal. “I didn’t text you.”

With a confused look Soojin pulls her phone out of her pocket. She squeals as she reads the text message. “Soyeon is back!”, she yells excitedly. After a quick reply, she runs towards the exit.

Yuqi and Minnie look at each other in amusement and slowly follow her. As they approach the doors and can see into the yard, they spot Soojin sneaking along the outer wall. She’s trying to get behind Soyeon, who is sitting under the large tree at the far side of the basin.

She seems so happy that Soyeon is back. And the way she’s sneaking up on her to scare her. I hope I can also find good friends to be silly with. Why do I feel sad because of Soojin'shappiness? Sometimes I’m just strange. Yuqi giggles as Soojin’s plan is ruined by her inability to hold in her laughter. Soyeon turns around and Soojin throws herself into her arms. Urgh. Talk about feeling lonely. This doesn’t make it better. Yuqi thinks to herself.

Minnie pulls her towards the two other girls. And they step under the tree just as Soyeon puts a paper bag with pastries away. I just had breakfast, but I could really eat one of those. They look yummy. Maybe I should just ask politely. But no. I can’t do that. I just met her and she’s my senior. Also, she seems to like them a lot too. And I wouldn’t want her to feel bad about either giving one away or refusing to. She looks a bit intimidating.

Soyeon introduces herself in a formal way and Yuqi replies just as formal and adds a compliment for good measure. Maybe that was a bit much. She might think I am a fan of hers. That’d be awkward. Why is she looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong? Yuqi gets a bit nervous and blushes slightly under the inquisitive gaze of Soyeon. She has a bit of powdered sugar in the corner of her mouth. Should I tell her?

“Soyeon!”, Soojin yells at the still staring girl and Yuqi gets startled slightly. Why is she screaming like that? Soyeon was just looking. Not like it bothered me or anything. Hmm they’re talking about dance practice now. I really hope we can have those together with Soyeon. She’s pretty good and has a great aura. Duh. Now I do sound like a fan.

“We’re not very advanced and we don’t want to hold you back”, Minnie throws in as the topic comes to Yuqi and Minnie joining into the nightly practice.

Why is Minnie making excuses for our dance skills? I am not that bad. She’s probably just trying to be polite and give Soyeon a way out if she doesn’t want to train with us. Oh, that was a very direct answer. Yuqi thinks as Soyeon very clearly tells Minnie that she likes to train with people that are not as advanced as she is. She’s not beating around the bush. That's for sure. I am the polar opposite. I wish I would speak my mind more often.

The conversation moves towards the anticipated party this night. I hope those parties are actually allowed. I wouldn’t want to get into trouble in my first week. But it seems like they did this many time before. And I also don’t want to be the only one not going. But I still don’t know what to wear. Why do I even care about that? But I guess sinceit’s a party I should look the part. I have to start saving money. I really shouldn’t spend too much. My parents are already burdened enough with me being in Korea instead of with them.

“I assume you guys are also coming?”, Soyeon asks Minnie and Yuqi regarding the party. “Sure!”, Minnie answers for the both of them. Yuqi is a bit hesitant. It’s not like she doesn’t want to go. But she really doesn’t want to turn up in her old jeans and hoodie. Finally, after Minnie promises to take her shopping she agrees. Well, it can’t be helped, I guess. And the money is for spending anyways. But I should try to find something nice that I can wear more than once. I wonder if there are any nice shops around. I should ask Soojin. She seems like she’d know about that. Anyways time to get to practice. Yuqi follows Minnie towards their beginner’s dance class.

 

It’s just before 10 o'clock in the evening and Korean class is about to come to an end. Yuqi and Minnie sit opposite to each other and do small talk. The mock fan meetings are Minnie's favourite part of the class and, since they’re only done once or twice a week,it’s Yuqi’s first time having one. Her Korean is not all that good, and she struggles with pronunciation and keeping the flow of the conversation.

The teacher calls everyone to attention: “Alright. We are done for today. Tomorrow we’ll go over future tenses and talk about what you want to achieve in the coming years. For next Tuesday we’ll have another fan meeting and I want you to write 200 words on what your ideal conversation and meeting with an idol of your choice would be like. This is due on Monday, so I can read over them before we have class. Remember to check for spelling mistakes and keep in mind that I only accept handwritten assignments.” With a nod the teacher dismisses them, and the students bustle out of the room.

“Alright we have to hurry up. The shops around here close soon”, Minnie urges. “Where do you want to go?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t know good clothing stores around here. I thought I’d ask Soojin”, Yuqi replies. And pulls out her phone to send Soojin a text message.

“Well, I could also show you around, but still ask her. She probably knows more than me.”

YQ: Do you know any good clothing stores near the company?

As they reach ground level and step out of the elevator Yuqi’s phone buzzes.

SJ: Can I come with you?! :D

“Do you mind if Soojin joins us?”, Yuqi asks Minnie just to be polite.

“No of course not”, comes the cheerful reply.

YQ: Of course. We’re waiting at the elevator. 

SJ: Can I also ask Soyeon if she wants to come?

YQ: Yes.

Yay! I can’t wait to go shopping. Yuqi squeals quietly. “What’s up?”, Minnie looks at her expectantly.

“Uh, nothing. I am just looking forward to the shopping.” Yuqi evades the question. I look forward to hanging out with Soyeon. Maybe I should ask her to help me with learning Korean. Then again, she is already helping with the dance practice. And I can’t ask her to help me with everything.

The two trainees take a seat on a bench near the elevators. After a short while Soojin walks towards them from the cafeteria.

“I just have to get my bag out of the locker. I’ll be with you right away”, Soojin greets them and walks straight past them to the locker room.

“What kind of clothes do you have in mind?”, Minnie wonders.

“Nothing too expensive and I want to be able to wear it more than once. Just something simple but pretty,” Yuqi answers.

“Hmm. That should be manageable. The fashion here is really great. I had a hard time finding nice clothes back in Thailand but here I really have to hold myself back, so I don’t buy too much.”

“I’m back!”, Soojin announces as she joins them on the bench with her bag slung over her shoulder. “Soyeon should be here soon. I hope you like the smell of sweat though.”

“What?”, Yuqi asks confused.  
“Soyeon didn’t have time to shower. I forced her to come with us anyways”, Soojin laughs.

Hmm Soyeon, doesn’t seem like someone who’d go shopping unless they had to. Even though she has a certain style and sense for fashion.  
“She really doesn’t have to come with us if she doesn’t want to”, Yuqi says carefully.

“Don’t you want her to come?”, Soojin asks in a confused tone.

“No! Of course, I want her to come with us. Just” she shouldn’t feel forced to join”, Yuqi says quietly.

“She’ll survive a bit of social contact”, Soojin sniggers. “She tends to hole up in a practice room and train or write rap. If it weren’t for me, she’d probably not go out at all.”

“We don’t have much time”, Minnie urges with a look on her phone.

Just at this moment the elevator rings and Soyeon steps out. “Hurry up Soyeon. We don’t have much time”, Soojin greets her and drags her out of the elevator.

Soyeon has an annoyed look on her face and tells Soojin that Hui asked after her. She shows an evil smirk and her mood improves as Soojin gives her the stink-eye but otherwise ignores her.  
Hui? Who is that? Soojin seems to be on bad terms with him if she reacts like that. I should ask Minnie what this is about.

“Where are we going?”, she asks the group. Minnie mentions a shop close by and Soojin nods in agreement. The four trainees walk out into the cold evening air. Isn’t this party supposed to be on a roof top? They really want to sit outside for hours while it’s this cold outside. I better make sure to wear all the clothes I have.

 

After a short while they reach a pedestrian zone with multiple clothing stores to both sides. Soyeon eyes a store window with comfortable-looking, colourful onesies on display. Soojin and Minnie keep on walking with determined steps. Yuqi not knowing what else to do follows them and soon after they’ve left Soyeon behind.

“Uhm. I think we lost Soyeon”, Yuqi chimes into the heated conversation Minnie and Soojin are having over the appropriate attire for a nightly roof party.

Soojin turns around and spots Soyeon who is still glued to the shop window. “Soyeon!”, she screams loudly and without restraint.

Soyeon throws her hands in the air. With a frustrated yell that can even be heard by the three waiting girls she runs after them.

“I was just looking. Isn’t that what we’re here for?”, Soyeon says with an annoyed sigh as she rejoins the other girls.

“We’re here to search and buy clothes for Yuqi and we don’t have much time”, Soojin reprimands Soyeon.

“Watch yourself!”, Soyeon grumbles.

“Pff, what are you going to do? Start a rap battle? She used to do that a while ago. Now I know better than to accept the challenge, but she only ever pulls that card when she's losing an argument”, Soojin tells Yuqi and Minnie mockingly. Why are they fighting? And all the screaming. I hope no one is bothered by us. Yuqi carefully looks around. She catches the disapproving gaze of an old woman passing them by and feels the heat creeping up her neck. Why do they have to be so embarrassing?

“Whatever. Come Yuqi we’re going shopping”, Soyeon declares and walks ahead. Yuqi is on her heels and trying to keep up with the fast pace Soyeon is dictating.

As they reach the end of the pedestrian zone Minnie stops them from walking right past their destination. “Hey! It’s this one”, she exclaims.

Hmm this looks a bit too fancy for me. I hope I can afford the clothes. Uhm, that blouse is so pretty. I love this kind of sky blue. And the sleeves are super cute. She excitedly points at the piece of clothing. The next moment her attention is already caught by a coat in mustard colour. In Yuqi’s opinion it has a very interesting cut but regretfully she doesn’t have the budget to buy clothes she doesn’t need.

Let’s go inside. I need to find out how much this blouse costs. Let’s pray it’s not too much. I really like it. I’ll look and feel great in it!

Without further ado she rushes into the store and walks straight up to the display. Hmm no price tag on it. Oh, this shop is bigger than it seemed from the outside. I wonder where the blouses are. Maybe I should just look around. I also need trousers or a skirt. Trousers are probably the better choice in winter. Especially since I don’t have any nice leggings to go with a skirt.

Soyeon suddenly grabs her arm and pulls her away to a display of blouses. Urgently she asks Yuqi for her clothing size. Luckily, I looked up clothing sizes before coming here. Otherwise I’d have to estimate it and try on a whole lot. So around 45 depending on manufacturer. She tells Soyeon her clothing size and she immediately starts pulling blouses off the display.

“Looks great. Now we need trousers”, Soyeon comments. She is really in a hurry. This won’t even take 10 minutes. Minnie already went to the right section. I think I never bought an outfit this fast. Yuqi giggles quietly. Her giggle turns into a quiet squeak as Soyeon takes her hand and pulls her through the shop. She’s really touchy. It’s kinda nice though.

When they reach the trousers section of the store Soojin throws one towards Yuqi. Will I even fit in there? This is probably one of those body fit ones. Not like I ever wore something like that. My butt is too flat anyways.

Yuqi protests and tries to talk Soojin out of making her try on the clothing. But Soojin brushes her off and points towards the changing rooms. Before she can even enter Soojin comes running with another piece of clothing. “I won’t try that on. Forget it!”, Yuqi dismisses Soojin’s selection. I want to look cute and classy and not like I am in dire need of a boyfriend. Yuqi shakes her head in amusement. Well here goes nothing. She takes the original two pieces with her and enters the changing room. This trouser is not that easy to get into. And why does it sit so low on my hips. Yuqi sighs. My mother wouldn’t let me out of the house if she saw me in this. But I guess there’s no way Soojin will let me pick anything more modest.

With a worried expression Yuqi steps out of the changing room.  
“Perfect. This looks great. I love the blouse”, Minnie comments.

“Heh. We better hide you away or some guy will fall off the roof staring at you”, Soojin jokes. Urgh as if this wasn’t mortifying enough. I really didn’t need that imagine in my head. Yuqi looks at her with a sour expression. Soojin shrugs apologetic but can’t quite hide her smirk.

Yuqi realizes that Soyeon can't take her eyes of her. Why is she staring at me again? And why am I flustered by it. She really shouldn’t stare.

Soojin whispers something into Minnie’s ear making her laugh out loud. The sound brings Soyeon back to reality and she quickly closes her mouth and looks at the floor before her feet. Soojin and Minnie grin widely at her and even though Soyeon tries to keep her calm she is visibly flustered. Abruptly she stands up from her seat. “Alright. Let’s pay and get back to the company we have half an hour left before the party begins.”

Soyeon asks the store clerk for scissors. She simply cuts the price tags off Yuqi’s clothing and hands them over at the register. Then they’re out the door and on their way to the company.

Minnie shudders: “Are we really going to stay on a roof tonight? It’s pretty cold.”

“Don’t worry we always borrow heaters from the neighbour. But you should wear warm clothes, maybe take a blanket with you. And if push comes to shove, we can still huddle up for body warmth”, Soojin answers and waggles suggestively with her eyebrows. I think I’ll choose warm clothing and blanket.

 

“Alright! We’re good to go!”, Kino says. Or was it him? Yuqi wasn’t sure. He definitely was some Pentagon member.

A rope is thrown over the wall from the other side. “All safe!”, a voice yells softly and Soyeon walk up to the rope to pull at it. This feels like a prison escape. I hope we don’t get caught. Also, this rope doesn’t look safe. The wall looks higher than before. This are at least 3 meters. Yuqi looks around the yard. It is mostly illuminated by the two lamps. But they’re in a dark corner executing their escape plan.

Kino climbs up onto the wall first. Sitting on it he helps the others climb up, by offering them a hand as they reach the top. After Soyeon successfully climbed the wall – she refused to take the hand offered at the top and pulled herself up on her own – it’s Yuqi’s turn. “Come on, I got you”, Soyeon encourages her and offers her a hand.   

Why did I agree to this? I am climbing up a wall to go to a party on my first week here. I must be insane. With a heavy sigh Yuqi grabs the rope. She carefully braces her feet against the wall, her weight supported by the firm grip on the rope. Oh shit. I don’t like this at all.

Soyeon looks down at her with a wry smile. “It’s not that high. And I’ll grab you as soon as I can.” Well, it’s too late to turn back now. Here goes nothing. And she starts her ascend. After not even ten seconds, that feel like an eternity to Yuqi, Soyeon grabs her by the elbow and pulls her up on the wall.

The wall is broader than Yuqi imagined and it’s easy to stand on top of it. Especially since a thick branch, of the tree growing under her in the yard, is protruding towards her. Yuqi holds onto it while walking the three steps towards solid ground. She can already hear voices beyond the ridge of the roof. A faint light is shining in the distance and Soyeon is pulling her towards it. “W-where are Soojin and Minnie?”, Yuqi asks while shaking in the cold breeze blowing over the roof.

“Soojin is already there and she convinced Minnie to join her. You’ll see why.”

Why is she smirking again? And why would Soojin want to go earlier and bring Minnie with her? It’s not like I took that much time to get ready. We could’ve just all went together.

Kino leads them over small metal steps installed along the roof. I guess these are for the chimney sweeper.

The first thing Yuqi sees as they reach the highest point of the roof are the numerous floor lamps standing between the gathered Cube trainees and artists. They colour everything in a soft yellow light. The party is taking place on a flat strip of concrete connecting two relatively steep roofs. Everyone is sitting on a variety of garden furniture and around them are a few electrical heaters, set up to keep the party as warm as possible in the cold September air.

“Finally!”, Minnie hurries towards them. “Dammit, I should never have let her persuade me. Just look at her!”, she says in an accusing tone and points at Soojin. Oh. So that’s what I was missing.

Soojin is sitting in a rocking chair with Hui. They’re cuddling closely and Soojin seems like she doesn’t mind at all. “I know almost no one here and she just left me on my own after asking me to join her! Well at least you guys are here now”, Minnie complains. “I hate parties.”

They are welcomed loudly as they approach the group. Yuqi shyly waves at no one in particular. “Let’s find a spot to sit”, Soyeon suggests and directs them to a wooden bench. “Hey, Kuanlin. Are those taken?”, she asks the trainee sitting there and points at the remaining seats. “No. They’re free”, he answers with a smile.

Hmm. It’s warmer than I thought. Those electrical heaters are great. All I need now is my blanket and I’m happy. “Could I have my blanket?”

“Sure”, Soyeon answers and pulls their blankets out of the backpack she brought with her. “Stand up.” Soyeon puts her blanket over the bench and sits down on it and pats the seats on her left and right.

Minnie and Yuqi sit down next to her and they throw Yuqi’s blanket over all of them.

“I’m tired”, Yuqi announces. “Sorry. I don’t think I’ll be very entertaining”, she excuses herself with a yawn.

Minnie and Soyeon start a conversation about the upcoming evaluation and Yuqi doesn’t feel like joining in. This is comfortable. I’m so tired. But I can’t fall asleep on this bench. She adjusts her position. There this is better. The warmth and the soft background noise of the conversation around her lull Yuqi into sleep. Her head sinks on Soyeon’s shoulder and she feels a hand hesitantly stroking her hair before sleep overcomes her.

 

 

 

* * *

Once again thanks to Angie for beta reading!

And I want to apologize for taking so long to update. I'll try to be less lazy in the future :| Next chapter is once again a Soyeon chapter.

_As you might've realized I am not a native speaker. So if you have any corrections regarding grammar or such things just shoot me a comment. I am more than happy to make corrections. Also if you have suggestions, feedback or requests I'll gladly hear all of it._

_Thanks for reading!_


	4. Chapter 4

October 2016 – 4 weeks later

The windows are fogging up from the warm cooking fumes spreading in the small kitchen. The only light source is the streetlight outside and the faint light of the gas stove. It was still dark outside and gloomy inside the apartment. She liked it this way. As long as she could see her fingers while chopping vegetables, she saw enough. It was 16 minutes past four in the morning. Her mother would come home from her nightshift soon and Soyeon felt obligated to support her in her hard work. Even if all she could do was to prepare a meal every morning, so her mother could eat something before going to sleep.

Humming to herself she refilled the rice cooker and threw the chopped vegetables in the pan. Then she took the left-over chicken breast from the day before out of the fridge and cut it in small pieces. After dumping half of the meat on her plate she threw the rest in the pan. Soyeon hated vegetables. She often tried to eat other vegetables or fruit than corn and tangerines, but it only led to her almost puking everything back out again. Which meant that her diet was somewhat restricted. But with meat, rice and whatever else she could find in the pantry she could survive.

After preparing both plates, she took her favourite hot sauce out of the cupboard and sat down on the windowsill with crossed legs. Soyeon polished the water vapor off the glass to look outside. She had always liked to watch the sunrise while eating her breakfast. There was something magical about the way the light slowly crept into the world and the birds started chirping in the trees.

Keys turned in the door lock and she heard her mother enter the hallway. The familiar sound of a bag being dropped on the floor, a jacket being hung on the clothes rack and feet shuffling towards the kitchen could be heard. Soyeon jumped off the window sill, her mother didn’t like her to sit on it, and placed a pair of chopsticks next to her mother’s plate.

“Good morning Soyeon”, her mother greeted her and pulled her into a loving hug. “Thanks for making breakfast.”

“No need to thank me mum”, she answered with a soft smile.

“You better hop under the shower now. You mustn’t miss the train!”

With a half amused, half annoyed scoff Soyeon dismisses her mother’s directions. “I already showered, and the train is coming in 30 minutes. I wanted to talk to you.”

Her mother looked up at her expectantly. “I’ll keep eating if that’s okay for you”, she announced and waited for Soyeon to start. “Uhm, so I thought about moving to the dorms. The train ride is so long, and I could use the time to improve and practice and being around other trainees would surely help in getting to know everyone and improve my social skills. And I could train whenever I want to. Also, it’d be less expensive. The costs for housing and food and all that would go towards my trainee debt.” Soyeon stopped her stream of words and tried to gauge her mother’s reaction with a worried expression.

“You want to move to the company?”

“Yes.”

“Well seems like you thought about it quite a bit. Okay.”

“Wait. That’s it? I can move into the dorms?”, Soyeon asked astonished. She expected her mother to show more resistance to the notion of her moving out.

“Yes. We let you pursue your dream of becoming an idol and up to now you have done well. There’s no reason to hold you back now. As long as you give it your all and really want to do this, we got your back”, came the heartfelt answer.

“Thank you!”, Soyeon felt a heavy weight fall off her shoulders. She brought her mum into another hug. “Time to hit the shower”, she said with an impish grin.

“I thought you showered already!”, her mother exclaimed in a playfully upset voice. Not showing any reaction to her mother’s outrage Soyeon fled to the bathroom.

 

Half an hour later she sat in the train on the way to central Seoul. She had been forced to run to the station with wet hair and it was unusually cold outside for the time of year. She could almost feel herself becoming sick as it happened. But the wet hair and running had been worth it. She had her big suitcase next to her and the paperwork with her mother’s signature in the pocket of her jacket. _Finally, I can move to the company. No more hour-long train rides in the morning. And I’ll be around Yuqi all day long. Yuqi?! Urgh, get a grip Jeon Soyeon. This is getting ridiculous._

To distract herself from her thoughts she opened her notebook. The first thing she saw were 29 different acrostic poems with Yuqi’s name. She did those last night when she lay in bed waiting for sleep. Arguably they were good practice since she needed to improve her active vocabulary and have it easily accessible in case she had to make up lyrics on the spot. And in general, it was a very useful skill to have. So, in the end it was just practice. Nothing else.

_As if._ That was the renegade voice in her head. She had fought with it for the last weeks. But somehow couldn’t disregard it completely. And it was getting louder and louder. _You have a huge crush on her. And you’re too much of a coward to even acknowledge it. Not even talking about doing something about it. You’re pathetic Jeon Soyeon._

With an irritated huff she threw the notebook into her backpack. _Why? Just, why am I attracted to some girl I know for only a month. I mean she’s incredibly cute, good at dancing, her voice is amazing and now that the ice is broken, she can be really funny and down to earth. But other than that? And what’s the harm in getting to know her better. Everyone needs friends, right? I can live with an ordinary friendship._ The pesky voice was back. _That’s quitter talk and you know that you want a slight little bit more than just friendship. And when was the last time you quit on something anyways? If you want something you work for it. So, pull yourself up and call her!_

Before she knew it, she already had her phone in hand and had typed out Yuqi’s number. Ironically enough she was usually bad with remembering numbers, but with this one she had no issue recalling it whatsoever. With a deep breath she gathered all the courage she could muster and hit the call button.

Yuqi picked up almost immediately: “Oh, hey Soyeon.”

“Hey.” Soyeon greeted her with uncertainty. “I am sitting on the train and I just felt like calling you. I hope I didn’t wake you up or anything”

“Oh, no. I am jogging with Elkie. We are just about to buy Yoghurt.”

“Yoghurt? Why are you buying Yoghurt?”

“It’s a long story. How are you?”

“I am great. My mum just agreed to let me move to the company. I’ll be moving in today.”

“Wow! Really? That’s awesome. So, we’ll be neighbours soon”, Yuqi chuckled. “Well, I have to go. Elkie is already getting impatient. Is there anything else you wanted?”

“No. No, I just wanted to hear your voice”, Soyeon said absentminded. _Wait! Did I just really say that?_

“Uhm… Okay. See you later then”, Yuqi said cheerily.

“Yeah. See you.”

Soyeon let herself sink deeper into the train seat. _I am hopeless. What was I even saying? ‘I am great’? What kind of answer is that? ‘I just wanted to hear your voice’? That doesn’t sound creepy at all. Or worse like you have a crush on her. Urgh._ She covered her face with her hands and tried hard to forget this phone call ever happened. She decided that it was probably better to pass the time with writing lyrics. And so, she grabbed her pen and buried her nose in the notebook, while the suburbs of Seoul passed by outside.

 

Soyeon couldn’t suppress her smile as she entered the lobby. With a triumphant grin she smacked the signed piece of paper on Chulmoo’s counter. “I can move in!”, she declared joyfully. Chulmoo laughed as Soyeon celebrated her success with a wiggling dance.

“I see, you came prepared”, he pointed at her big suitcase. He looked over the paperwork.  “Looks like everything is in order. The management has already nodded everything off. You know the way to the dorms. This is your room key. Your roommate is Miyeon. Try to get along with her, alright?”

“I get along with everyone!”, Soyeon answered in a bashful way. Chulmoo just gave her a doubtful smirk.

Whistling, she marched off towards the dorms. She was glad that her mother wouldn’t have to provide for her anymore. It was harsh enough on her with the nightshifts and looking after every won while having to feed and clothe both her and her sister. But right now, wasn’t the time to mull over her family’s financial situation.

 

Turning the key in the lock she opened the door. Miyeon sat at the table and was painting her nails. She seemed to be too focused on her precision work to realize that someone had entered the room. Soyeon cleared her throat audibly to make herself known. Miyeon almost jumped off the chair as she was taken by surprise by the sudden sound behind her. With a high squeak she snapped around and painted a broad stroke of nail polish over the back of her hand. With wide eyes she stared at Soyeon.  
“Uhm, hi Miyeon. I guess they didn’t tell you I’d be your roommate?”, Soyeon greeted her.

“Oh! You scared me Soyeon! Phew”, taking a few deep breaths Miyeon tried to calm her nerves. “Oh no”, she sighed heavily and looked at the long stripe of nail-polish over her hand.

“Sorry. I should’ve knocked or something. That should go away with a bit of nail polish remover.”

Miyeon pouted and stood up to get her cosmetic bag. Soyeon stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, her suitcase and backpack behind her. _I’ll just let her do her thing and move in and unpack. Alright, let’s see._ Soyeon started pulling various clothes out of her suitcase and threw them into the wardrobe on her side.

“You should fold your clothes”, Miyeon interrupted her. “Otherwise they will get all crumpled.”

Looking at Soyeon’s less than impressed reaction to her suggestion she avoided eye contact and went back to removing the nail-polish without another comment. _She seems nice and adorably clumsy. But I really hope she can leave people alone. If she’s going to crowd me all the time, I’ll go insane._

“Do you want to go to breakfast together?”, Miyeon asked her hesitantly. _Alright Soyeon. Deep breaths now. Don’t let yourself be upset by her. She’s just trying to make friends and you should too._

“Yeah, sure. I’ll be ready in three minutes.”

“Great!”, Miyeon exclaimed joyfully. Soyeon couldn’t help but be infected by her enthusiasm. She seemed so happy and excited, while removing the nail-polish from the back of her hand. _I can’t stay mad. She’s just too clumsy and goofy._ With a soft chuckle Soyeon sorted the rest of her belongings into the wardrobe.

“I am ready now.”

“Coming. I guess I won’t get any more nail-polish off”, Miyeon commented and pouted at her hand. There was still a faint line of blue visible on the back of her hand.

“It’ll be gone in a day or two. Just leave it. That’s better than drenching your hand in this chemical stuff.”

“You’re probably right”, Miyeon nodded and smiled. “So! Let’s go. I am starving.”

_I am not starving. But eating is always great. Also, I should find Soojin and tell her that I moved in. Wait. This is Yuqi and Minnie’s door. I wonder if they’re already over at breakfast._

“Wait a second. I’ll see if two friends of mine want to join us.”

“Sure”, came the immediate answer. Miyeon skipped and jumped ahead.

_She is way too active for my taste. I doubt I’ll ever get a silent minute with her around. Anyways. Here goes nothing._ She knocked on the door. “Hey! It’s me Soyeon”, she announced herself.

The door opened up and Minnie grinned at her. “Hey, Soyeon. What’s up?”

“I just came by to ask you guys, if you want to go to breakfast with Miyeon and me.”

“Miyeon?”

“Yeah, we’re roommates now.”

“Ah, Yuqi mentioned that you were moving in today. I’ll be right with you. But Yuqi is still under the shower. She’ll probably need a few minutes more.”

“Oh, alright”, Soyeon answered. “I’ll just wait for her then.”

Minnie looked at her with a slight frown.

“Hey Minnie!”, Miyeon greeted her from the hallway. “Are we going now?”, she asked expectantly.

“No. We’re waiting for Yuqi”, Soyeon answered.

“Come on inside”, Minnie said and held the door open. Soyeon and Miyeon entered and took a seat on the two wooden chairs. An awkward silence spread that was only interrupted when Yuqi arrived.

“Oh! Good morning Soyeon”, she greeted her friend. Soyeon just stared at her. _Why is she only wearing a towel? This is not good. Shit. Am I blushing?_ Soyeon slowly started to panic. She got caught more than once reacting in a less than ordinary way to Yuqi. Which she was trying her best to avoid. Not only was it embarrassing but really no one needed to know about her infatuation. Afterall she didn’t even know how to deal with it herself.

Yuqi was distracted by Miyeon and mustered her with a slightly puzzled look. “Uhm. Hey. I’m Yuqi.” She offered her hand in greeting.

“Nice to meet you! I’m Miyeon. We saw each other on the hallways, and I think we also have vocal lessons together from time to time”, Miyeon cheerfully greeted the younger trainee.

_Can Yuqi please keep her hand on the towel!? This is too much. I have to get out of here. If this towel drops, I’ll turn redder than a tomato and stare at her until the last idiot gets that I like her way too much._

“We’ll wait outside”, she said loudly and grabbed Miyeon by the elbow. Dragging her out of the room she fled onto the hallway. Miyeon was clearly perplexed but didn’t resist.

Soyeon sat down on the heaters lining the windowed side of the building. _I really need to decide what I want. This is nerve-wrecking. Being around her makes me super happy and anxious at the same time. But I also can’t just ask her out. I don’t even know if she likes girls. And it’s not an accepted kind of relationship in any way._

“Are you okay?”, Miyeon interrupted her thoughts. “You seem a bit upset.”

Soyeon stared out into the yard and avoided Miyeon’s worried look. “Yeah I’m fine.”

Soyeon put on a poker face and tried to forget her predicament for now. Miyeon sat down next to her and inspected her perfectly styled nails.

A moment later Yuqi came out of the room, Minnie just behind her. “Let’s get some breakfast”, she pulled Soyeon from the heater. She halted as she saw her blank face. “Hey. What’s wrong?”, she asked her in a soft voice.

“Nothing. I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not”, Yuqi replied.

She mustered her for a few seconds, before she suddenly pulled her into a firm hug. Soyeon melted into her arms and hugged her back tenderly. She was utterly overwhelmed by her happy emotions. _Oh god. I can smell her hair. This is the best. Damn all holding back._

And so they stood there, in the light filled hallway, for a few long moments and just enjoyed each other’s embrace.

 

 

 

* * *

_At this point I'd like to thank everyone for the encouraging comments and praise. I read it all and greatly appreciate it. It really keeps me motivated and never fails to make me smile._

_Also I most likely won't be able to write for the next month and a half since my real-life obligations are catching up to me. The next chapter will come late but I promise it will come._

_As always feedback, grammar corrections and so on are appreciated._

_Thanks for reading!_

_PS: Get hyped for the comeback at the 26th!!_

_PPS:<https://gfycat.com/scratchydemandingkatydid>  Have a gif in celebration :3_


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